Improvement in railroad-tracks



UNITED STATES TENT FFIGE.

AUGUSTE DE WIECZFFINSKI-SERRES, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

IMPROVEMENT IN `RsAILROAD,-TRACIK.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 192,842, dated July 10,1877; application iiled i May 2 5, 1877.

Y To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, AUGUSTE DE WIEGZFF- INSU-SERRES, of Paris, France,have invented a newand usefulsystem of joining the component parts ofrails and their supports, and its application to the construction ofrailways entirely metallic Y and that the following is a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a new mode of connecting railsto their supports, and to apply it to the construction of metallicroads.

What I wish to accomplish by means of my invention is the construction,in an easy and practical manner, of metallic ways for railroads,tramways, of any given gage; also of tracks,&c. Y

Y The main advantages whichI have obtained by my invention areas followsSuppression,

to a great extent, of small pieces, such as bolts, rivets, keys, wedges,Snc.; reduction to a minimum of thenumber of pieces, and of specialgradings necessary to the construction of the road; simplifying theoperation of laying the track, which, according to my in vention, can bedone without special tools, and without supplementary adjustmentdispensing with any necessity, of selecting or 'measuring the piecesthat are to be laid in position; `convenience with which the same piecesof connection of the rail can be used for a curved as well as for astraight road, the cross-ties only being slightly modified according tothe curves in the road; great reduction in the cost of keeping thetrack, resulting from the small number of pieces used, and theirpermanent relative position requiring no adjustment; stability andlateral rigidity of the road,due to the form given to the sleepers;great saving in the amount of ballast, for which any material or qualityof material may be employed.

My system of connecting the parts consists in the union, by simplepenetration and rotation, of two pieces, which I shall,for convenience,call twin sleepers, and of one or more pieces, which I shall denominatesaddle-supports, the whole being tied together and com pleted by placingin position the rail, upon the head or top of which the car-wheels roll.

In order to show that this my system of .constructing railroads canbe-accomplishedin many analogous ways, and is susceptible of manymodiiications without departure from the principle of my invention, Ihave added to this specification drawings indicating, by Way ofillustration, certain plans of construction which seem to me the best touse in practice.

Figure 1 is a transverse section of the complete construction of a rail,of which Fig. 2 represents a side elevation.

The rail is formed of the head-piece c, upon which the car-wheels roll,and of two sleepers, b, forming, by their union, the compound or twinsleeper, which supports thcpece a.. The union of the three pieces a b b,constituting the rail, is accomplished by means of a distinct piece, c,called a sad'd1esupport,I7 in the manner as follows: The4 sleepers bhave, as shown at d, openings through which the sad dle-supports arepassed.` The form of these openings may vary 5 but they should in allcases be slightly larger than the height of the piece c.

Figs. 6 and 7 represent, in section and in elevation, a sleeper, b, withthe opening d cut out or formed between the two portions c and f of thesleeper, toVallo-w the `piece c to be passed through when these sleepersare held in proper position. Figs. 8 and 9 represent, in section and inelevation, detached views of this piece c. It has in its upper portionan opening, g, in which thek upper part of the two sleepers b rest,when,after having introduced the piece c through the opening d, thesleepers are dropped intoV the opening g, so that there only remains theshank h of the piece a to be introduced between the upper part of thetwo sleepers b to complete the construction of the rail in accordancewith my invention, as shown in Figs. l and 2 of the annexed drawings.

It is easy to understand that the sleepers b can be made of variousforms. In Fig. 10 I have represented seven different forms which couldbe used with like effect. The main point in making. sleepers to be usedaccording to my system is, that their form be such as to y presentthreedistinct parts, of which No. 1 forms" tlie'base, No'. 2 the intermediateportion, havingan opening through which the saddlesupport can be passed,and No. 3, which, together with the same part in the twin sleeper,constitutes a clamp of the shank h of the rail proper. I will 'alsostate lthat the piece c, that has been called saddle-support]7 can becast or rolled under various forms, as shown -in-Fig. 11, where sixdifferent forms are represented.

It will be easily understood that the rail itself can be made `of anydesired form, accord-` ing to the object in' view. A constructionanalogous to that described could be made with' like results, involvingrotation, not of the sleepers, but of the saddle-support, around anaxisn'orm'al tothev length of the rail. The' piece c should lthen bewedged'up by an' auxiliaryp'iece, x', so that the rotation shall not be'made in thel opposite direction.

verse and longitudinal section. Fig.'14 represents aseparate view of theauxiliary-piece :17,up`onv which a small notch is made torecei'vey'the-lower :extremity ofithe shank of the' rail ai In this mode ofproceeding-the sleepers would be placed immediately according to theangle that 'they areintended finally to'o'ccupy, the .wed'ging-piecel a:beingheld byfthe introduction of the rail a, the lower extremityoflwhich 'willr'est inthe notch of the Wedgingpiece'.

A specialy wedging-piece can be dispensed with by formi-ng the notch inthe piece c with' afrib 'to arrest the rotation.` It is easyl tounderstand the manner by which" my system of uniting the 'differentlparts can be applied to the construction yof :railroad-s entirelymetallic, and Fig: 5 represents, in plan, arailroad-tra'ck constructedaccording yto myr system.

Thev two rails frming-the-track are mounted upon thegsleepersbfb",united together Vby the saddle-support c. At variable distances, say I2f" m. 20 apart, are vplaced the cross-ties y, which unite two oppositesaddle-supports, or are' formed as an extension of these pieces c. Itisbest that thesleepers break joint, or that thel ends of'each sleeper ofapair should over-` lap the vends of the other, so as not toy requireFigs. 12' andl3 represent this arrangen'rent inl trans--` To guardagainst expansion'and contraction by heat and cold, and to establish abetter union of the parts when the rails and sleepers are underpressure, having a tendency to bend them, and also to make it moredifficult for evil-disposed persons to remove the heads of the rail a,the three pieces-vizi, thetwo-sleepersb, forming the compound sleeper,and the shank of the rail a-can be perforated and united by a split key,m. Figs. 3 and 4 represent this construction in transverseandjinlongitudinalsection. The piece a, forming-the surface Iof the railproper, upon wlrichrthe'rolling-'stock travels, yis formed,fasrepresented-im theA drawings, of a head; a, and shanky or stem, h:

any shape deemed best forthe purposes in'- tended.

the rrfiannerV in which the same isormay be carried-i'nto effect, what Iclaim as 'Iny invention', and-desire to'lsecure byl Letters Patent,-y

is as follows:

l. The combination "and rigid connection, as shown la-nd described, offourfelements,` constituting a-system ofirai'lway structure, namely:a'shanked-rail, two longitudinal side supporting sleepersone on eitherside-of-said `rail-and saddle-pieces,v having notches provided for theinterlocking of parts,"substan -tial'ly as herein shown? `1 and setforth.'

2. The combination and arrangement ofv a shanked I rail,v twinlsleepers, saddle-support, Iand ywedge-piece, substantially fas shown and5 set forth. 3. The construction of twin Imetallic sleeplers,each1bein'g formed: with a horizontal base` plate, a vertical"A sidesupport andclamp of the,`

rail, and a-further intermediate perforation forthi Intestimony whereofl; have signed -my'- nameto this-specification before two subscribingwitnesses.

A, DE wIEozFFiNsKI-snnnns.'

Witnesses:

EMiLn BARBAULT, AUG. Vinck'.y

'lhese may-be* made' oflany desirable Vvmetal',`j such 'as steelorlwroughtliron-,f-and maybe of;

Having now described my invention, andV

